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Miami Marlins Acquire Former Top Prospect Chris Reed from Los Angeles Dodgers

By Ehsan Kassim

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Trade season is here and the Miami Marlins made their first move before the July 31st deadline in just 16 days. Granted, the move is not a seller move many expect the team to make as the deadline nears, the team did make a move that could be sneaky could.

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The Miami Marlins acquired former top prospect and first round pick Chris Reed from the Los Angeles Dodgers for lefty reliever Grant Dayton.

Chris Reed, 25, was designated for assignment by the Dodgers earlier in the week to make room for minor league right-hander Preston Guilmet. Reed was the Dodgers first round pick in the 2011 draft, two spots after the Marlins selected Jose Fernandez at 14.

Despite Reed mainly being a reliever at Stanford, the team decided to try him out as a starter as a professional, before moving back to starter this past season under the Dodgers new regime.

Reed was ranked the 10th-best prospect in the Dodgers organization by Baseball American before the season. He was ranked 13th by Minor League Ball’s John Sickels, who had this to say about Reed:

"13) Chris Reed, LHP, Grade C+: Age 24, posted 3.22 ERA with 111/55 K/BB in 137 innings in Double-A but was crushed after moving up to Triple-A (10.97 ERA, 37 hits in 21 innings). Good low-90s sinker but slider and change-up didn’t work too well against advanced hitting in PCL environment, granted sample was small. Back-end starter or reliever projection."

The Dodgers had Reed begin the season in Triple-A, but he was demoted to Double-A, despite posting a 3.27 ERA and a 3.76 FIP in 11 innings of work. He was likely demoted due to the lowly 11.6 strikeout percentage he posted in Triple-A.

Reed’s performance went farther backwards in Double-A, as he has a 7.23 ERA and a 5.29 FIP in 23 2/3 innings of work. Reed’s strikeout levels has rised to 14.7%, but he’s walking guys at a 16.5% rate.

Maybe the Miami Marlins see something in Reed that they feel they can fix and get him back to his 2014 performance level in Double-A. Last year in Double-A he posted a 3.22 ERA and a 3.80 FIP in 137 innings of work as a starter.

Reed was moved up to Triple-A to end the season, but did not fare well. Posting a 10.97 ERA and a 6.89 FIP in 21 1/3 innings of work.

It will be interesting to how the Marlins use Reed. He has started for the majority of his professional career, but likely profiles better out of the bullpen.

Still, at just 25-years old, the move is a nice buy-low project for the Marlins.

To acquire Reed, the Marlins sent left reliever Grant Dayton to the Dodgers. Dayton, 27, never reached the Majors with the Marlins, but posted a 2.83 ERA and a 2.47 FIP in 35 innings of work.

Dayton could provide the Dodgers with a strong lefty bullpen option in the stretch run and the Marlins get a left-handed pitcher that has a strong prospect pedigree. Seems like a fair deal.

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